Sting - Soul Cake

"Baby Talk" Christmas 2016

 The 19th Century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard told a parable about a great king who fell in love from afar with a lovely servant girl. He wanted to tell her of his love, but he wanted to approach her in a way in which she might freely, willingly love him.

As a high and mighty king, he would overwhelm her. She would perhaps fear him, or respect him, but could she love one so high and so remote from her and her world?

So the king devised a plan. He took off his royal robes and dressed as a poor peasant. He slipped away from the palace, descended into the village below, and took up the life of a poor peasant.. Making her acquaintance, he gradually got to know her and she gradually got to know him. There he wooed the young woman. Eventually, she grew to love him. They moved toward marriage. At last he revealed himself to her as king. They live happily ever after in the palace, recipients of true love.

Take this as a parable. “In many ways God attempted to reveal himself to us. Now, God has been revealed to us as a Son, word in the flesh, God with us.”

Martin Luther said when God speaks to humanity, God always speaks in baby talk. God does this, says Luther, because God is love. Therefore, God never forgets that no matter how old or how big we become, we are still helpless, dependent, unknowing babes so far as our faith is concerned.

So God bends to our immaturity. When God speaks, we only learn as much as we need to know, only what we can take. God knows we cannot stand the full weight of the full truth. The creator knows the needs and limits of us creatures. So God talks baby talk to us.

God does not bother Adam and Eve with lessons in animal husbandry or botany. God simply says, "You're in charge. But hands off that tree over there." Like any busy parent, God never gets around to telling them why; but simply tells them the way it is. But you know Adam and Eve. From the beginning, we want to know too much for our own good.

God speaks to Moses out of a burning bush, knowing that children are fascinated by fire and things like that. But when the bush speaks, it is with ludicrous simplicity: "Go tell people that I AM sent you."

And the law, the commandments--basic kindergarten morality (as literally translated): You no kill. You no lie. You no steal.

And the prophets: Broken jars and scrolls and other object lessons for children talk of lions, lambs, and stories that only little ones understand. Baby talk.

Have you ever watched people talk to babies? Goo, goo. Ga, ga. A young father wrote of a day in a sunlit park with his baby, watching perfectly intelligent, sensible adults stop before the stroller and, one after another, be reduced to nonsensical babblers. Goo, goo. Ga, ga. An old banker, in the park for a lunchtime stroll, bent over, dangling his gold chain over the head of the little one, puffing up his fat, rosy cheeks and pursing his lips as he buzzed and wheezed, clicked and sputtered. Watching the man, the father thought: If only your bank tellers and depositors could see you now!

And yet, studies of child development say that such baby talk is essential for language development, coordination, perception, and a host of other human characteristics. Many hospitals now even employs a woman to walk around the neonatal care unit and talk to the smallest babies. There are research reports indicating that infants who are not talked to frequently during the first months of life suffer stunted development, and sometimes even die.

Erik Erikson believes that trust is developed in a child during the very first weeks of its life, in all the little rituals of greeting that the infant and its parents go through when it wakes in the morning. All the cooing and tickling, grinning and silly chatter that occur between parents and their young, Erikson says this building of trust is essential for one's whole life. The absence of baby talk leads to serious deficiencies.

All subsequent chatter of learned theologians, says Luther, is nothing but a series of footnotes on the primal baby talk. This later, abstracted, generalized reflection must not deafen us to the first, simple childlike ways in which God speaks to us. When it does, we begin complicating the faith, talking big, claiming to know more than we have experienced, forgetting our essential condition, smothering the elemental power of it all. Babies do not have to be told what Mommy means by "Cootchie, cootchie, coo." Love needs no explanation.

And so, stooping once more to our level, bending over into this violent playpen we call home, God again speaks - this time not simply speaking to babies but coming as a baby, as one of us.

To the outside observer just passing through, all this excited talk over the bassinet - the toothless shepherds grinning and peering over the edge of the crib, the wise old men from back East reduced to babbling fools - seems strange. But here in the nativity is truth, not as complex theory or lofty ideal, but truth wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

"Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son".

When that child beaome a man, he still spoke in stories, parables, simple declarations of the way things are now that God has come in the flesh. With a crisp "Follow me," he invites all to a kingdom where only the little ones are citizens - the very young, the very old, the very oppressed, the very sick, the very poor - a kingdom where to receive a child is to receive him. Here is a Disney World place where everything is turned upside down, the lowly ones are great, the great are brought low, and there are surprises for everyone. In this kingdom, grownups who use words that are too large and pray prayers that are too long and get too big for their britches have trouble getting through the door. Baby talk.

Later, when, in a sort of frivolous, childish gesture, he enters the capital city clownishly bouncing on the back of a fuzzy donkey, his beard does not hide the child beneath the man.

On that day, a long way from the manger at Bethlehem, he is welcomed into Jerusalem, not by the mayor with the key to the city, but by children with palm branches.

These babies look at him and see one of their own.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, you have caused this holy day to shine with the brightness of your great light. You have come to us, the world's true light.

Grant that we might see your light, that we might be drawn to your love, that we might show forth your light into all the world, that many might see your light reflected in our lives.

Babe of Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph's son, the one for whom there was no room at the inn, speak to us this glorious Christmas Day, be born again in our hearts, take form in our lives, redeem our humanity, making us your own.

Lord, we thank you that, having tried to speak to us in so many ways down through the ages, you at last speak to us through your only Son, Jesus the Christ, who reigns this day and for ever and ever. Amen. 

WINTER SOLTICE

"A Love Story" given 12-18-2016

Someone has collected a list of Things NOT to Say to Your Pregnant

Wife. Let me list 7 of these dangerous phrases you are free to share with any young couples of your acquaintance.

Number 7: "I finished the Oreos."

Number 6: "Y'know, looking at her, you'd never guess that Pamela Lee had a baby!"

Number 5: "Well, could they induce labor? The 25th is the Super Bowl."

Number 4: "Whoa! For a minute there, I thought I woke up next to Willard Scott!"

Number 3: "I'm jealous! Why can't men experience the joy of childbirth?"

Number 2: "Are your ankles supposed to look like that?"

and the Number 1 Thing to never, ever, ever Say to Your Pregnant Wife . . .

"You don't have the guts to pull the trigger."

The Christmas story. It is a story unmatched in beauty, power and mystery. It is, at its' root, the story of a couple who experience the miraculous in their life together She is "with child"—pregnant, expecting a child, we read, conceived by the Holy Spirit. In Second Isaiah we read,

"Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of

men and women? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the

Almighty will personally give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and

will give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel."

The virgin birth may or may not be a big deal to you. Personally,. I’m more interested in the fact that Jesus got here and what he did while he was here, than I am in how got here. I didn't always mention that in sermons, because I know some folks take that particular point of doctrine pretty seriously. For some, it’s a crucial test of orthodoxy—in a pastor, and in a denomination.. But while I was preparing this sermon, I recalled an interesting article printed in McCall’s magazine several years ago. It seems that after having two children, a woman in NC had a tubal ligation. She and her husband, had decided that their two daughters were enough. But about a year later, Mom was sitting at the dining room table when she felt something move.

"Honey, if I didn't know better," she told him. "I'd swear I just felt a baby kick."

"You know that's not possible," he replied.

That's what Mom thought--until she went to the doctor. Five months later she gave birth to the couple's third daughter, Kristy. So, Dad decided to get a vasectomy. After the procedure he confidently told his wife,

"Now there's no chance of our ever having more children." He was right . . . for a while. In 1993, Mom started having the tell-tale signs of pregnancy once again.

"No, it couldn't be," she thought. Out of curiosity she decided to buy a home pregnancy test--and was completely shocked when the result was positive. Several months later Mom gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

"I've never delivered a baby where the mother has had a tubal ligation

and the father has had a vasectomy." said her Obstetrician, "The odds of both procedures failing must be astronomical." He added. "All I can say is that this baby was destined to be here."

The couple felt that way too. In fact, they named him “Destin”—for destiny. In their own way, this modern family were no doubt as astounded by this turn of events as Mary and Joseph must have been that first Christmas. Mary and Joseph had a son who was destined to be here. They named him Jesus, just as Joseph was told in a dream.

But as well as Christmas being the story of a young couple who experience the miraculous in their life. It is also the story of extraordinary love and trust. Joseph was startled to learn of Mary's condition, as you might imagine. Matthew tells us that att first, poor Joseph had second thoughts about the impending marriage. He didn't want to humiliate Mary publicly. He loved her too much for that. He resolved to put her away quietly.

Joseph must have thought it was the only good way to make a bad situation

tolerable. He must have felt sorry that he had loved Mary. It was too much to ask him to believe that this child had somehow been mysteriously conceived.

But then something quite disturbing happened to Joseph. He had a dream. An angel appeared to him and confirmed Mary's story--that the child which she would bear had been conceived by the Holy Spirit.

And that was all Joseph needed--a dream. How many people today believe that God speaks to them through dreams? Joseph must have loved Mary very much--and trusted her. Joseph also loved and trusted God. How else do you explain the readiness with which he accepts Mary's story? Most men would have said,

"It was just a dream. Nothing has changed." But not Joseph. Joseph believed in God, and Joseph believed in the woman chosen to be his wife. Christmas is the celebration of extraordinary love and trust. How fortunate people are who experience that kind of relationship!

But more importantly: Christmas is a celebration of the direct, physical entrance of God into our shared human experience. That’s what I truly find significant in the story of the virgin birth—that Jesus Christ came into the world—not riding in a flying saucer, not not washed up from the waves fully grown, not floating on a cloud—but floating in his mother’s womb. The very same way you and I and every other human being came onto this planet

And all this took place, says the Gospel of Matthew, to fulfill what the Holy One had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel"--which means, "God with us."

God with us! What an amazing thought--the Creator of the universe in our midst. The manger in Bethlehem cradles a King--the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And yet, amazingly, few of those who encountered him had any idea who he was.

It reminds me of a delightful story of William Lawrence Bragg, at twenty-five the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Prize in physics. Bragg was an avid amateur gardener. When he moved to London to head the Royal Institution, he reluctantly left behind the beautiful Cambridge garden he had spent so many years perfecting. Life in a city apartment made him restless and unhappy until he found an ingenious solution to his

problem.

Dressed in old gardening clothes with a spade over one shoulder, he patrolled the streets of a nearby wealthy district until he found a house whose garden tempted him. Then he rang the bell and, tipping his hat respectfully to the lady of the house, introduced himself as "Willie," an odd-job gardener with one free afternoon a week. His employer found Willie an absolute treasure.

Until, alas, one day a knowledgeable visitor looked out through her window and gasped, "Good heavens, what is Sir Lawrence Bragg doing in your garden?" In a similar fashion you and I might gasp, " Good Heavens, what is God doing in your manger?"

But that is precisely the contention that Christmas makes--that the God of all creation humbly and freely chose to take on human flesh. It is an extraordinary claim--a claim that is a stumbling block for many conscientious people. God? A baby?

Nothing in all creation is quite so helpless, so vulnerable, so fragile, so frail as a human baby. The utter dependency of babies is at the very root of humanity’s need to form, and drive to protect their families.

I know of no other religion so bold as to admit to the possibility of its God appearing in so vulnerable a form. How scandalously condescending is the love of this God who deems to meet us first as a baby. How threatening is this God to our human desire for an aloof, platonic deity who lives in the realms of the abstract, self-contained ideal, or who sits upon a Heavenly Throne, far above the clouds, surrounded by a court of angels--rather than in the stable out back, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

For most of the year we preachers talk about humanity's need for God. But on

Christmas, we can be so bold as to speak of God's need for humanity - a God

who comes, reaching out to us, as a baby, needing the love, warmth, and nurture of an utterly human family? Good Heavens! What is God doing in our manger?

With the vulnerability of the babe comes the child’s claim upon us. A baby—any baby-- because of its total vulnerability, utter dependence, and radical potential, evokes a response from us. A baby demands a commitment unknown in any other human encounter. This claim arises not only because babies need us, but also because somewhere within our deepest selves, we know that we need babies. That’s what Carl Sandburg meant when he said that “A baby is God’s sign that the world will go on.”

Some deep, human instinct tells us that babies are a sign of our human creativity at its best, a reminder of our dark, biological, primordial origins in the waters of creation and a hopeful hint of our still open future. Call it life. One finds it difficult to be neutral in the face of such smiling mystery. How many of us have ever made faces or wriggled our fingers at a total stranger’s baby in the next table over in a restaurant?

One new father explained it as well as anyone else ever has. This particular fellow had interpreted and kept his marriage vows rather loosely. He had thought little about his past, and had not the slightest interest in the future. He had spent the first years of his marriage mainly on the road making money.

"But one night," he said, "I got turned around - the night I walked into the hospital room and held my little baby in my arms for the first time and realized that she was part of me even if she was better than I deserved. I said to myself, 'You're going to have to stop your foolishness and start living like somebody, because she's somebody.'"

The birth of that baby summoned forth the best in the man's humanity, laid hold of

his life in a manner that could only be called rebirth. What is God doing in your

manger?

Did Joseph and Mary feel such a claim upon their lives as they stood by the manger? Did the shepherds and the magi? What is that wonder you and I feel reflected back upon us when we encounter the babe? Is it a glimpse of ourselves at our best, in our primal innocence? Or is it a vision of one who is part of us, yet better than we deserve?

How will you and I respond? What is the claim of the Christ child on our lives? Will we stand alongside those fortunate somebodies gathered around the manger, blessed by so close a love? Who could expect the magi to return home the same way after such a

meeting?

A young couple experiences the miraculous in their lives. A humble husband shows extraordinary love and trust. And God enters into human experience calling forth the best in us, claiming us, claiming God's own creation. It's quite breathtaking, isn't it? No wonder the whole town is lit up. No wonder carols fill the air. It's the most beautiful story in all the world. It's Christmas and all the world awaits the coming of the Lord.

Brenda Fassie Soon and Very Soon

"Happy is.." given 12/11/16

I wonder what your favorite Xmas movie is? My personal choice is an old John Wayne flick from the 50s called Donovan's Reef. One reason at least, that I'm fond of it, is that the plot takes place in Tahiti, and Midwestern Parrot head that I am, the idea of an Tropical Island Xmas— at least one time in my life— really appeals to me.

My wife on the other hand, loves The Bishop's Wife. No, not the Denzel Washington version, I’m talking about the original—the black and white one with Cary Grant. I'm not sure if Donna loves it so much because she reealllly likes Cary Grant, who plays an angel in the film, or she reeallllly likes David Niven, who plays the Bishop. On the other hand, maybe she just wishes that I'd get a promotion.

Judging from the number of times it get viewed however, the all time favorite Xmas movie of just about everybody is another old black and white film that was a box office flop when it first came out, and yet still manages to speak to people's lives. Every year about this time TV stations bring out of their vaults. You guessed it. The film is It's a Wonderful Life.

Does anyone not know the plot? George Bailey, the lead character in this heart-warming film, never felt like he amounted to much in life. He had dreams of becoming a famous architect, of traveling the world. Instead he feels trapped in a humdrum job in a small town. Then a crisis occurs that strains his every resource. He is faced with unjust criminal charges. Although he has a fine family and many friends in the community, the

injustice of the situation plunges him into despair. Faced with this crisis, George Bailey breaks down and is about to leap off a bridge into a river.

That's when his apprentice guardian angel, Clarence, comes down to show him what his community would be like without him. The angel takes him back through his life. He shows George how his job has benefited many families, how his little kindnesses and thoughtful acts have changed the lives of others, and how the ripples of George's love and acceptance will spread through the world, helping to make it a better place

George Bailey is played in the film by Jimmy Stewart., Stewart said that some things happened to him while making the film that never happened in any other picture he made. For instance, in one scene, George Bailey, broke and in despair, sits in a little roadside restaurant. In this scene George, raises his eyes and pleads,

"God….God….dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if You're up there and You can hear me, show me the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God…."

Stewart later remarked, “As I said those words, I felt the loneliness, the hopelessness of people who had nowhere to turn and my eyes filled with tears. I broke down sobbing. This was not planned at all, but the power of that prayer, the realization that our Father in heaven is there to help the hopeless, had reduced me to tears."

I wonder how many people have been touched by this simple film? Perhaps some of you here in this sanctuary this morning have. The plot has been “borrowed” many times and satirized almost as much. It’s become something of a cliché. But in order for a film, a book, something--anything to become a cliché, it must have originally contained a deep core of meaningfulness about our human condition. Otherwise it would never have been

so recognized as being true, so powerful, so treasured, and repeated, and re-repeated so many times as to end up becoming a cliché.

And there is indeed a profound truth at the core of “It’s A Wonderful Life”. It tells us, among other things, that you and I can go for years, decades even— raising our families, doing our jobs, dreaming our dreams, living out the same old everyday existence. In all that time, we can rarely stop and think about anything in our lives beyond what’s right in front of our eyes. We rarely stop and consider the impact we have on others, the impact we have on our community, on our families, on God’s world.

Me? Oh, I’m nobody—nothing special. I run a building and loan in a small town. Me? I’m just a mom. Me? I’m just a farmer. I’m just a school teacher. I’m just a janitor, or a mechanic, or a cop, or a nurse, or retired, or a librarian, or a preacher. And then, one day, out of a clear blue sky, something happens to stop us in our tracks and force us to take a look at who we are, and what we’ve been doing with our lives all these years.

We turn 21—or 35—or 40—or 50—or 60--or any other age that’s significant to us. We get divorced. Our parents pass away. Our last chick leaves the nest. We finish up that big project at work that we’ve been working on at for so many months, and nobody even seems to notice—or care.

We get fired, or laid off, or an undeserved demotion, or an unexpected transfer that means the family has to pick up stakes and move one more time. We don’t get tenure. We get confronted with the consequences of our inappropriate behavior in an intervention. A friend or loved one is diagnosed with a potentially fatal or crippling disease.

The doctor calls us at home—he says the test results have come back and there’s a procedure we need—he calls it a procedure—but we know it’s really an operation. We get dumped by someone we thought who might just be the one we’ve been waiting for. We find ourselves widowed or forced into early retirement. Uncle Billy misplaces the

$ 50,000 and the bank examiner wants to know where the money went.

Those are times when you and I find ourselves forced to stop and look at our life. And much of the time, we end up being pretty hard on ourselves. I’ve messed up my life. I’m a nobody. I’m a bum. I’m an addict. I was supposed to have made my pile by this time in my life. I haven’t accomplished anything. I’ve accomplished a lot—but it doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve wasted 30 years in a job that doesn’t fulfill me. I’ll be darned if I’m gonna stay married to that sonnuvagun for another twenty-five years.

So we end up changing careers. Or we end up buying a pair of fire engine red cowboy boots, trading in the mini-van for a sports car. Or we trade in the old ball and chain for a blonder, younger, dumber, much more expensive version—who we find we can’t really talk to. Or we end up in a shrink’s office, popping little purple pills with happy faces on them. Or we end up leaping off a bridge into the river.

Or—we end up sitting in a little roadside restaurant, broke and in despair praying—

“…show me the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God . . ." And if we really do mean that prayer—an angel will turn up. He or she won’t necessarily look like Clarence—or even Cary Grant—or Denzel Washington, or even Della Reese. The truth is that your angel probably won’t even be trying to earn his or her wings.

Most of God’s angels aren’t even aware that they’re being angels at the time. They’re just people like you and me reaching out to a sister or a brother in need. It might be a friend, a family member, a teacher, a co-worker, your spouse, your sponsor from AA, a mentor, a stranger, the waitress, even once in a great while, your pastor. The word “angel” does not mean “heavenly being with a wings and a halo”. It simply means “messenger.”

Your messenger might be somebody you would never in your wildest dreams have expected—some of God’s angels are pretty unlikely characters. On the other hand—your messenger may just be the Holy Spirit, speaking inwardly to you with words of calm and hope and renewal.

Regardless or who or what your angel looks like-- he or she will be there at that moment of self-surrender. That’s not just in the script—that’s the truth. It’s the Spirit’s job to get that message—by angel, or by internal insight--into us. Our job, sitting in that tacky little restaurant at the end of our rope is to be perceptive enough to recognize that angel and listen with open heart and mind to her message for us from God.

“Hey get off the pity pot. Stop beating yourself up. So you didn’t become a millionaire by your 35^th birthday. So you didn’t end up being a CEO, or a General, or a Bishop. So you messed up big-time. So your dreams fell through.

Take a good look at who you are—look at the good you’ve done. Think about all the people who care about you. Think of all the people God allowed you to minister to. Remember some of the everyday acts of kindness that made a difference you aren’t even aware of—the times you were a friend to somebody at the end of their rope—the times when you were an angel without even knowing it. Try and imagine all the ripples of your love that spread from person to person throughout the world—making it a better place.

Go ahead and make a change in your life if it seems appropriate. Or if you can’t do that—think all about the good you might yet do—through the grace of God. “ You never know, you might even end up being the angel in somebody else’s story. After all, that’s one of our jobs as followers of Jesus Christ.

Does the name Robert McFarlane ring a bell? You may remember him as former President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser-- Ollie North’s boss. He ended up indicted for his role in the Iran-Contra affair. McFarlane was crushed. His career was ruined. In desperation, he tried to commit suicide.

Then an anonymous stranger—an angel if you will-- mailed him a video of It's a Wonderful Life. Believe it or not, MacFarlane had never seen it. The movie that gave him the inspiration to go on. A simple Christmas film gave him hope. Hope is what Christmas, about what Jesus Christ is all about.

That's what this Advent season we celebrate is all about—hope, and peace, love, and joy. Jesus of Nazareth's coming into the world means joy for the despairing, love for the unloved, peace for the troubled, and hope for the hopeless. The George Baileys and the Robert McFarlanes of this broken world have a reason to go on. Christ Jesus has come into our world.

John the Baptist was in prison. He was at the end of his rope. When John got the news in prison of what Jesus was doing, John sent his followers to ask his former disciple,

"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

Jesus' reply is interesting,

"Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. And happy is anyone who does not find me a stumbling block."

These were the people for whom Jesus came. That is what Christ's Advent is about: hope to the hopeless and healing for the hurting. Listen again to the words of Second Isaiah:

"Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a

pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs."

What a magnificent picture of healing and new life! Not everybody wins their battle with AIDS or Cancer or Parkinson's. We don’t know exactly why. But the Scripture accounts make it clear. God’s Will was and is always directed toward wholeness and healing. The Spirit can change shattered lives. Jesus never withheld healing from anyone who asked it--the blind, the deaf, the physically challenged, the emotionally confused. The Advent of Christ into our world and into our lives is hope for the hopeless and healing for the hurting.

And Jesus adds one thing more. "Happy is anyone who does not find me a stumbling block. Blessed are they who believe." The coming of Jesus brings joy. To be in His presence is Heaven. Happy is anyone who does not find Him a cliché or a stumbling block. Blessed are those who can believe. Blessed are they, for they will find new life.

And that is what Christmas is ultimately, all about. Christ Jesus has come to our world in the form of a tiny babe. He seeks to come into our hearts. No wonder we sing, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come."

Now go out and tell the world, you flock of angels!

"Eternal Spirit" (New Zealand Lord's Prayer) :: May 5 @middlechurch

"Shalom and Salaam" given 12/4/16

Almost twenty-five years ago, I had a very interesting visitor during office hours. It was a man only a couple of weeks out of prison. He had served twenty years for counterfeiting-- no early release, no parole. He was glad to be free. But he was finding it hard to accept much less adjust to what our society had become.

He’d been mugged the night before. He had seen his first bag lady a few days before that. He talked about encountering first hand the homeless,, the addicts, the shelters and the pantries and the soup kitchens-- things you and I take for granted. He talked about seeing reports of slashing and rapes and worse on the evening news.

He talked about having to become street-wise. He quickly learned not to go out ac night. He learned to walk in the center of the sidewalk--not too close to open doorways. He learned to ignore people who accosted him on the sidewalk got fear they might attack him.

"Don't misunderstand," he told me. We have TVs and magazines inside. We hear what's going on. But subconsciously I guess, I didn't realize how bad it's all become. You live with it everyday. You're used to it. You don’t notice."

For me, at that moment, that old, black ex-con suddenly became a prophet. Like Isaiah, like John the Baptizer, like Jesus, he reminded me of the dream of what Jesus called “The Peace this world cannot give.” The Hebrew word Our Lord would have used to speak about that peace was “Shalom” (or “Salaam” in Arabic).

And the word points to something in this life that is much more than just an absence of fighting. Shalom (or Salaam) points to the Divine Dream planted in human hearts. It’s the dream of a world of justice and righteousness and peace and equity.

I knew perfectly well that guy in my office that afternoon was basically trying to put the bite on me for a handout. But in doing so, he graphically reminded me of how far in our land we’ve strayed from our ideals. He pointed bow far our world still is from Isaiah’s vision of the wolf lying down with the lamb, the leopard with the goat, and the lion cub feeding beside the lamb.

The Apostle Paul recalls that vision for us as well in Romans 15, as he quotes Isaiah of Jerusalem. "The root of Jesse shall spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations, one in whom the gentiles shall find hope."

Paul wanted his readers to understand. Isaiah's original vision in the midst of exile-- the dream of a just king from the line of David, a human messiah, a righteous ruler who would deliver Israel from captivity-- had been transcended and transformed by the Christian vision of Jesus our Messiah’s Return and Rule in glory.

Every generation needs to capture that dream of a root springing up from the stump of its own tradition. Every people and every land needs honest prophets who will not be co-opted by either good times or bad in their call to covey to us the Word of our Creator. Every era needs those who will recall for us the primal vision. The vision is that there was once-- and there one day will be again-- an Eden-- in which there was enough for everyone's needs-- although insufficient for everyone's greed.

When Jesus proclaimed again and again in his preaching, the nearness of the Kingdom, when he promised his friends in the Upper Room, that Shalom, he was deliberately pointing to that vision for us--using an old beloved symbol to share a new spiritual reality. Shalom is a covenant relationship between God and humanity. It is a state of being, as well as a symbol. And it points directly to the return of Eden through the Return and Reign of Christ.

It calls us to a new order of existence-- a new way of living and being and relating for people as well as our nations. It is a new way of life that can begin now. And it is at the same time, a foretaste of Eternal Life, as it will be enjoyed in the New Jerusalem of our God.

This "Shalom" was proclaimed and dreamed of and worked for and prayed for all throughout the Old Testament era. Yet it was only with the coming of Jesus our Messiah that Shalom actually became an actual possibility in this world. It is Jesus the Christ who incarnates Shalom among humanity. That’s why we share “the Peace of Christ” That's why we pray; “Thy Kingdom come”. He brings it to us as a promise of God's ultimate Will for humanity, and for Creation itself.

The prophets, and Isaiah and Paul and Jesus' stir up our imaginations and our memories to the possibilities of Shalom. They challenge us-- they call us-- they admonish us. "You don't see it. You're used to it". They point to the wrong, they shine the light of truth on want and need, and they remind us that we are better than that.

This particular time of year many of us feel stressed, drawn tight as violin stings by the expectations of society and our families-- and our own selves-- of what Christmas ought to be like. We praise something we call “The Real Christmas Spirit” through sleigh bells and silver bells to Santa. We become so frantic and busy in our Rudolph Sweatshirts that we forget the Redeemer of the world-- the Babe in the manger.

What then can Christians—what can you and I—do in this Advent season to bring this broken world closer to the dream of Shalom? It seems to me that we must begin to stand up for peace-- with our voices and our actions. We need to keep alive the vision of the angelic song “Peace on Earth and Good Will to all”, in our hearts and in our relationships. We need to pray for it-- and work for it. If our ministry reaches out across the continent or no farther away than the kitchen door.

You and I have so many opportunities-- to support Relief efforts-- to pray and fast for peace-- to stand up to those racial and ethnic and religious slights we all hear from time to time-- to contact our legislators-- to give to the needy without worrying about cost-- to volunteer at the Food Pantry, or at one of the area hospitals, to visit a nursing home, even if nobody there is related to us-- to give funds and donate toys and time to social agencies-- especially those caring for children-- to resolve to become a Big Brother/Big Sister or Foster Parent next year.

The prophet’s vision stretches before us-- if we have eyes to see. The angels song calls us to join in the chorus-- if we have ears to hear, and a voice to proclaim. The prophets’ vision speaks to you and me in our personal lives as well. Shalom is a dream, a vision, and a possibility in our homes and hearts and mind-- as well in the world around us.

Perhaps you're living in a relationship that is more captivity and abuse than joy and support for one another. Perhaps you struggle with the question of conflicting values--- falseness and contradiction instead of encouragement and promise. Perhaps you're caught up in feelings of unresolved anger at someone, or of inappropriate desires, or incapacitating guilt, or temptation, or resentment, or even patterns of domestic violence. Perhaps you’re enslaved by grief or Depression.“You don’t see it-- you’re used to it.”

Grumpy old John the Baptizer points out for us a path through the desert -- a path of honest repentance of our wrongs -- a path of prayer and fasting -- a path of metanoia (repentance). He calls on you and me to simply turn around-- turn our lives around and simply walk away from false values and shoddy morality built upon cheap justifications and consumerism. He urges us and set our sandals upon the path of love and self-giving -- the path of new life.

So many of us in this life are bent on "having it all." So many of us are determined to claim "what's mine". So many bf us are struggling to "get it together", or to "pay back" or to "show them". But when and if we do get what it was we wanted so desperately, we inevitably end up with nothing at all.

Whatever our situation, the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 15 that we are embraced and inextricably under-girded by a God of steadfast love and eternal hope. Whatever our feelings, our struggles, our trials, Martin Luther King reminded us in one of his sermons that

“..at the center of the Christian faith is the conviction that in the universe there is a God of Power who is able to do exceedingly abundant things in nature and in history.”

Exceedingly abundant things—do we truly believe that? Exceedingly abundant things—even to tearing down walls of hatred and prejudice. Exceedingly abundant things—even to healing us and making whole our troubled lives and situations. Exceedingly abundant things—even to one day achieving true Shalom, the peace of Jesus Christ on earth.

“Shalom on earth—Good Will to all peoples.”

At this dream, at this possibility, at this promise, at this prophetic word, let us rejoice this Advent in the hope and promise of Christ’s coming reign of Peace—of Shalom.

Let us pray,

Reveal yourself to us anew, O God of Creation, in ways that even we can understand. Turn us around so that we may genuinely join all peoples and nations of this earth in welcoming your Advent. We long for that day of peace when all your people shall bear good fruit, and when child-like trust shall lead us all into the ways of peace. Amen.

"Rushing and Realizing" given 11/27/16

Advent was one week away, so Mom and Dad thought they'd see how much

their children remembered from their family devotions the year before.

"Who can tell me what the four candles in the Advent wreath represent?"

Mom asked. Their son jumped in with seven-year-old wisdom and exuberance.

"There's love, joy, peace, and . . . and . . ."

"I know!" their little six-year-old girl interrupted to finish her brother's sentence: "Peace and quiet!"

I don't know about you, but peace and quiet would get my vote.

Advent begins today, but the church is way behind the secular world in rushing Xmas. Mickey D’s has already started selling Egg Nog shakes. Decorations at most stores went onto the counter as soon as the clerks could clear off the Halloween stuff. People are running around in Santa hats, doing their shopping. And for all you non-conformists out there—I’m happy to tell you that you can still get a green Santa hat for shopping this year. Would that make you a non-conforming conformist? One comedian, fed up with the playing of Christmas carols in stores before Thanksgiving, swore he saw a turkey in a pear tree.

And yet this most crassly commercial season of the year is also the season that is so important to believers as we try to prepare our hearts and minds for the celebration of Christ's birth (even if it is only December 1^st .) So, reaching out for spiritual meaning in a time when the culture around us is emphasizing materialism , we fall back on Scripture. Once again we turn to the old, old prophecies of the first Isaiah. And in these priceless words you and I can again find critical truths for our lives. First, we are reminded of what God has done. Then, we try to discern what God wants. And finally we hear once again of our role in God's plan.

What has God done? On a cold bright day in October 1995, scientists at Harvard University threw a switch that they hoped would link earthlings to other intelligent life in the universe. They launched what they called the Billion Channel Extra-Terrestrial survey.

Here is what that means. Around the clock, a radio telescope at Harvard's Agassiz Station observatory listens for a signal from space--even the faintest sign that suggests somewhere in the universe is other intelligent life. When the survey was launched, there were plans to construct a $ 300 million radio telescope three-quarters of a mile in diameter somewhere on earth, extending our hearing 100 billion miles into space. Perhaps some of you saw a movie a few years ago called Contact, which speculates as to what would happen if we ever did hear a message from Space.

This vast and persistent effort at communication with the universe is neither the stuff of science fiction movies nor the quest of mad scientists. One physicist calls it "the space-age version of communicating with God, " but adds that it is "garbled at best." To date, unfortunately, there has been no response from the beyond.

The quest for a conversation with the Ultimate is nothing new. Since the dawn of history, of reason, of curiosity, human beings have looked to the heavens in wonder for an answer to their predicament: “Is anyone out there? If so, then what do you want of me? Why am I here? What am I here for? What will become of me?"

Throughout all history and even before, in every tribe, every culture, every nation that we know of, men and women have struggled with those questions, bowed their heads, raised their arms and cried out to the Universe, seeking an answer--a voice, a miracle, even just the smallest sign.

The Christian knows that God is not silent. We have already had communication from beyond our own solar system. The Christian knows that it happened around 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem of Judea. Indeed, St. John's Gospel begins with this cosmic, poetic phrase: "In the beginning was the word . . ."

Going back even further, the editors of Genesis said Yahweh God spoke the world into existence.

Isaiah of Jerusalem wrote: "In the last days the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Holy One, to the house of the God of Jacob. The Almighty will teach us God's ways, so that we may walk in God's paths.' The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Almighty from Jerusalem."

The prophhet knew that the Creator would reveal God's own self in God’s own good time to God's people. God would not allow them, or us, to forever wander in the darkness of unknowing. And the Christian knows that when our God finally chose the ultimate, perfect act of self-revelation, it was done in the most unusual way. God wrapped God’s own Divine self in human flesh. Advent tells us what God has done. God has revealed God's own nature, God's power, God's purpose for us and the world in Jesus the Christ.

But there is a second thing we need to see. This time of Advent also tells us what God wants of us. Isaiah writes: "The Almighty will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."

What God seeks is a totally new human creation. The old, incomplete human creation is forever giving in to our baser instincts--instincts like violence, prejudice, injustice, exploitation and greed. One poet has put it like this:

God's plan got off to a happy beginning

But Adam ruined it by sinning!

I hope the whole story

Will end in God's glory,

But right now the wrong side is winning.

The wrong side is winning. Sometimes it sure seems that way. But that's not the final reality. That’s not the Divine Will. The Creator wants all people on this earth to live in peace and harmony and dignity together. Our Maker intends that every child be born into a world of love and caring. The Holy One wants people with pure hearts and pure motives.

Our God calls us to become a new human creation. It may well be that until we can start becoming new people, we’ll never be able to fully shut down our noisy minds and stop and listen—just listen for that still, small voice we sang about a few minutes ago.

An anonymous Mexican prayer expresses the change God would like to make in human hearts:

I am only a spark

Make me a fire.

I am only a string

Make me a lyre.

I am only a drop

Make me a fountain.

I am only an anthill

Make me a mountain.

I am only a feather

Make me a wing.

I am only a rag

Make me a king.

Advent is about what God has done-- revealed the Divine self in the babe of Bethlehem. It is about what God yearns for--a new human creation—a creation attuned to God’s word and will in the world--a creation with the heart of Jesus.

But Advent is also finally about our role in that Divine Work in the world. Isaiah writes,

"Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD."

In Isaiah's day the ideal—the Realm of Christ had not been realized. International conditions were grim, and Judah was threatened by powerful enemies. The armies of Babylon were on the borders, looking for an excuse to invade and take over Israel. Yet the prophet cried, "Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord." That is to say, let us live as though the ideal were present now! And in that call lies our role today, more than two thousand years after Christ's birth.

Theologians use the fancy phrase, "Realized Eschatology." It means to live our lives as if Christ's earthly Reign were already established. It means to live our lives now with pure and loving hearts, harboring no anger, no envy, no greed. It means to live now with a commitment to root out injustice wherever it is found, to the end that someday God's plan will be realized. It means to live in the light as if we already surrounded the throne of God.

It means to live as if the End has already come. Why? Because the end of our old world has indeed, already come for each and every one of us, in our individual encounter with the Living Word Jesus. Judgment Day isn’t centuries away in the distant future—it happened when we first truly understood what God was calling each one of us to do and be.

Your and my personal Judgment day continues to happen right now, at this moment—and every moment as we try to live out our response to the Divine call. If we respond in faith, it means we are already walking the path of righteousness by living as righteously as we can—flaws and sins and failures warts and all.

But how can we frail, bumbling human beings possibly even aspire to live in such a way? How can such a radical transformation of our flawed human nature possibly

take place? How we can we broken and sinful and self-centered as we are, possibly

manage to even attempt to live righteously? How does our journey begin?

Thomas Merton wrote in one of his prayers:

“I believe the desire to please you does in fact please you, and I hope I have that desire in all that I do.”

It is after all, our honest willingness to follow Him and make the journey that pleases Jesus.

There’s only one way. It is to invite the Lord of Advent into our lives. When you and I do that, we discover anew what God has to give us and what God wants from us. When we do that, our old broken, world ends and a new one is born. When we do that, The day of the Lord comes. The Eschaton is realized. When we do that, Christ's Realm is established--in our hearts and in our lives. When we do that, strength and integrity and hope are born within us.

And that is what Advent is all about. The Creator has revealed God's own self to humankind. Now we know what God wants--a new human creation. And this is how it happens. When we walk in the light of Christ's love, we carry Our Lord's coming realm in our hearts.

Even amid the rush of Christmas preparations, you and I can realize the fruition of God's plan. "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Almighty, to the house of the God of Jacob. And our Maker will teach us God's ways, so that we may walk in God's paths."

That new human creation will not come automatically or even necessarily easily.

You and I won’t always make the right decisions in life. We won’t always make the most unselfish choice. We’ll still hit our thumb with a hammer and say things we shouldn’t. We’ll still get depressed and frustrated and angry with one another—and with ourselves. We’ll still think and even do things that we’ll later regret.

“The desire to please you, does in fact please you.”

But, we’ll find that the desire to please God does in fact please God, So

when we falter, we’ll find that we will be able to receive strength to persevere. When we fail, we’ll find ourselves able to pray for forgiveness. When we fall, we’ll find that there will be a sister or brother willing to give us a hand back up onto our feet. When others around us fall, we’ll find we have an opportunity to lift them up. When we are wronged, we will find within ourselves the power to forgive. When we lose hope, we’ll find there is inspiration and encouragement available—if we’re simply willing to reach out for it.

And even when others abandon us, we’ll find that there will always be at least one person willing to still accept and love us and offer us a second or third or even seventy times seventh chance. And it is His Advent among us that we celebrate and anticipate today.

People Get Ready The Impressions

"Who's in Charge Here?" given 11-20-2016

Ever look around and ask yourself the question, who's in charge here? The Military-Industrial complex? The Illuminati? Our Politicians? We elect them to office and we the people (in a democracy) give them power -power to do good for us. But do they? And if not, why not? Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul letter to the Colossians.

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels--everything got started in God and finds its purpose in God. The Creator was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, God in Christ Jesus organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

He was supreme in the beginning and--leading the resurrection parade--he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe--people and things, animals and atoms--get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross.

A prominent clergyman tells about a time when he met the former governor of his state. In a rare moment of candor, the politician confessed to the preacher, "The first and most difficult thing I had to learn is that I wasn't in control of anybody or anything. I was essentially powerless, a victim of many forces beyond my control."

Can that possibly be true? Can you imagine Bruce Rahner, or Mike Madigan, or any current or former high elected official in our state of either party, complaining that he or she was a victim of "forces beyond control"? Can you imagine Rahm Emmanuel admitting that anything is beyond his control?

But some things are. Take, for instance, something like the economy. Has anyone here ever seen the economy? No. It’s invisible. Nevertheless, it’s quite real and palpable, and certainly a force beyond our control. Deep in the previous Depression, Will Rogers once said that he didn't understand any more about the economy than the economists did. And gosh knows they didn't know anything.

Yet this invisible economy dictates the lives of millions. The economy has thrown millions of people out of work. Its’ sovereign decrees have pushed thousands of businesses into bankruptcy, caused millions to be unemployed, and lead to uncounted foreclosures and bankruptcies.

Walk through any big city today, and in one shop doorway after another you'll see homeless people, begging. Who put them there? If you ask one of our elected officials, he or she might tell you that it was economic forces. It was some invisible, yet powerful force beyond our control. The economy, politics, the national mood, investor confidence, voter apathy-- all these are forces beyond our control.

Watch the evening news and see slaughter in some country in Africa, violence in Afghanistan and Syria, political unrest in Central America, havoc in the Middle East. Recall 9-11. What can you or I— what can anybody do about these terrors? The truth is that there really are forces beyond our control in this world.

When, in his letter to the Colossians, Paul speaks about "the powers and principalities," that's what he's talking about. Forces beyond our control. We've got problems with the “powers and principalities”-- the same problems with the same “powers” in many cases as the Apostle had in the First Century.

And yet throughout the whole letter to the Colossians Paul isn’t despairing over that feeling of helplessness, or of things being somehow or other “out of control.” No, the Epistle to the Colossians is all about saying "Thank you." Paul begins by thanking God that there is a church in Colossae at all. His prayer for them focuses on their being able to give thanks to the Creator. The central section of the letter begins with thanksgiving; and, when Paul sums up the whole long argument, this is how it concludes;

"Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Heavenly Parent through him".

Gratitude it seems, is the name of the game-- according to Paul. An appropriate sentiment on this Sunday before Thanksgiving. But why is Thanksgiving appropriate? Why should these Colossian Christians be so filled with thanks?

Because God has rescued them—and us from the rule of the “powers and principalities”, liberated them—and us from victimization by "powers beyond their control," and transferred all the people of God to a new kind of earthly rule-- the Reign of the Prince of Peace, the Sovereign of kings, God's own beloved Son—Jesus the Christ.

Those words are reminiscent of the Exodus, when Israel was liberated from bondage under Pharaoh and led to freedom in the Promised Land. Now, in Jesus Christ, something like that Exodus has happened to us. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. And this same God made the world, and is determined to redeem the world, to rescue the planet from the grip of these demonic “powers and principalities”.

Paul has some things to say about the “powers and principalities”, these forces beyond our control, in this letter. First, he reminds us that everything in this world was made by Christ, through Christ, and for Christ. This world is not a chaotic battleground between absolute good and unredeemable evil. It is all God's world. It is all at bottom, good. Even "the powers and principalities”, even invisible, abstract, seemingly all powerful and mysterious things like "the economy," or "the media," or "consumer confidence," or "the political situation" are under the Divine Hand.

So why then do we have problems with these powers? Something has obviously gone wrong. Our existence is not supposed to be this way. What went wrong was that we human beings gave up our responsibility for God's world, and handed our power over to the “powers and principalities”.

Think about it. When humans refuse to use God's gift of sexuality responsibly, they are handing over their power to Aphrodite, and she will take control. When humans refuse to use God's gift of money responsibly, they are handing over their powers to Mammon, and he will take control. When we take up arms against our brothers and sisters, we have yielded our power to Mars, the war god—and he takes control. When we slight our neighbor, hold a grudge, refuse to forgive, refuse to live in peace with one another, ignore the needs of one another, crush the visions of others, we are handing our power over to Eris—the goddess of discord, and she will take control.

I use these mythic figures only as metaphors to dramatize the power of unbridled sexuality, of unchecked greed, of unhindered violence and uncontrolled discord in this world. These are powers or archetypes or sinful intentions, or demons that dwell within the darker nature of every human being. But they are so pervasive, so potent that when we do give them power, they seem to take on an objective reality in this broken world of ours.

When you and I refuse to get involved, do not vote, do not reach out to sisters and brothers in need, do not stand up and witness for the right, we hand our power over to those who will do those things—other humans—politicians—special interests—lobbyists—criminals—war-mongers. The list goes on. And when the “powers and principalities” take over, ordinary human beings get crushed.

Paul says, in Colossians, that Jesus Christ came into the world God created to do business with the “powers and principalities”, to live where we live, to confront the “powers” and to triumph. He faced the “powers and principalities” and tamed them, defeated them, so that He might rule, so that He might reclaim His whole creation and might give it back to us as He meant it to be. And friends, Jesus Christ was no metaphor.

This victory over the powers wasn’t won only in the spiritual or “churchy” realm. It was won for us in every venue in life. Jesus is Lord of our workplace as well as Lord of our living space, Lord of the Congress just as much as Lord of the Church, Lord of the boardroom just as much as Lord of the bedroom. Does Jesus care as much about how you vote as how you pray? As much about how you work as how you worship? As much about public life as private life?

A young, wealthy aristocrat in 18th-century England, was living a rather wild, immoral life. Then this young man was powerfully converted in the Wesleyan revival. He received a call to ministry. He forsook immorality, but then instead of seeking ordination, this young man entered politics, of all things! God had called this new Christian to a ministry in the political arena. He ran for Parliament and for almost 40 years was the leading crusader against slavery in the British House of Commons.

This man believed that God had brought him to political power to end the ghastly evil of the slave trade and slavery. In 1787, when hge began his crusade, slave ships from "Christian" Europe carried 100,000 captured Africans to the Americas every year. In fact, England was the leader in this savage tyranny, with British ships carrying one-half of this human cargo. The huge profits represented a significant part of the British economy.

But this good man knew deep in his soul that slavery was a terrible sin against God and neighbor - even though almost all respectable people of his time quietly accepted the prevailing view that slaves were just property to be bought and sold like coal and cattle. So he prayed and he politicked. In fact, he and his small circle of friends regularly prayed three hours a day for their many tasks, including their crusade to abolish the slave trade and slavery. Their opponents insisted that abolishing the slave trade would destroy the British economy. The response was that human beings and ethics matter more than profit.

After a 20-year struggle, the British parliament finally abolished the slave trade in 1807. Twenty-six years later, in the very year that William Wilberforce died, the British parliament abolished slavery. Over the next century, the rest of the world did the same.

William Wilberforce was the central player in this momentous change in world history. He did it all because of Christ - because he knew Jesus Christ was (and is) Lord of politics and economics—as well as Lord of souls and hearts. Wilberforce was able to accomplish so much for Christ, never doubting or losing hope-- because he knew that the victory had already been won.

Won? When? Where? On the cross, Christ Jesus defeated the “powers and principalities” once and for all time, and stripped them of their ultimate power. The moment of his abnegation was and is simultaneously the moment of His exaltation. The Crown sits atop the Cross. Now He seeks to reconcile even them, to create a new world by the power of the love of God. That is why today's Scripture is cast in such a celebrative tone. The “powers and principalities” have been put in their place. That's why Paul calls the Christians at Colossae to rejoice and be thankful—they have a new life.

He calls them—he calls you and me--to live as citizens of a new kingdom. We can live freely and exuberantly because the grip of the “powers and principalities” has been defeated. The decisive battle has been won. There is still some mopping up to be done, still struggles with evil. But we know who has won the war. We know in whose hands the final victory is already held.

Every time you and I pray, "Thy kingdom come," we are claiming more ground for Christ; we are leaning forward toward that complete victory of Christ over everything in this world that would deface his creation. Every time you or I say grace at a meal, we affirm that Jesus is Lord and Sovereign, and that the world and all it offers is His, and has no independent authority.

And every time you and I come together in worship, every time we celebrate the Eucharist, every time we baptize a baby, every time we invite a friend, or neighbor to church, every time we pledge and make an offering, you and I celebrate the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ. And our symbolic celebration resonates out into the city, into the country, into the world, into our homes, into our marriages, into our bank accounts. It resonates out with the powerful message that God is God, that Jesus is God's visible image, that God’s Holy Spirit is among us, and that this Sovereign God has already defeated the powers of evil that still enslave and crush human beings today.

In WWII, during the height of the Battle of Britain, a man emerged from a bomb shelter in London after a night of terrible bombing. Amid the rubble, there was a newspaper vendor, hawking that morning's newspapers.

The vendor asked the old man, "Don't you want to buy a paper? Don't you want to find out who won the battle last night?"

"I don't need to read the papers," replied the old man. "I don't need to read the papers and find out who won the battle because I already know who has won the war."

That's us. We know who won. In our daily skirmishes with evil, we can live with hope and confidence. We can act faithfully, act with compassion, and live with courage. We can witness boldly. Although the battles may be tough, we already know who has won the war—and where it was won.

That knowledge, the knowledge that we have been transferred to the Reign of God's beloved Son, the knowledge that Christ is Sovereign, the knowledge that the “powers and principalities” of death and evil no longer hold us in their icy grip, that knowledge enables us to live and love with courage.

Sisters and brothers, the war has been won. Now it's up to us to live like we truly believe that. We need not despair of the world’s wickedness—the victory has already been won. We are free to work for good and stand up for justice—knowing that our efforts will not be futile. We are free to give joyfully, cheerfully, without concern—knowing that we are giving to Christ’s cause.

We need not lose heart over these seemingly unsolvable, immense, invisible social problems that bedevil humankind—the victory has already been won. You and I are free to

pray and lobby for change—knowing that we can make a difference-- and that we do.

You and I need not despair over hunger, poverty, addiction, hate and the like—the victory has already been won. We have a strength beyond our own to minister to the victims and confront the “powers and principalities” that exploit and oppress humanity—knowing that our struggle is not hopeless.

We need not give up on our own selves—the victory has already been won. We are not irrevocably trapped in our own sin and addictions and failures—God works through us—our mistakes and failings and stumbles are turned into victory. And the victory—our victory has already been won. We empowered to grow and become the free people that God intended each one of us to become—knowing that the life of everyday sainthood—the life of integrity and righteousness and faithfulness is not beyond our grasp.

Praise God for Creation—which is good. Praise the Spirit for the power to grow and change. Praise Jesus—for in Him the Victory is won!